Telegram Under Fire: From Criminal Haven to Regulatory Target in Spain

Many Spanish Telegram users received a pointed message Wednesday night from the app’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, warning about “dangerous regulations” recently announced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The proposed measures would restrict social media use for those under 16 and hold platform executives legally responsible for violations.

“These measures could turn Spain into a surveillance state under the guise of protection,” Durov wrote to the platform’s eight million Spanish users. What his message conveniently omitted was Telegram’s own troubled reputation as a platform that enables the spread of misinformation, serves as a communication channel for cybercriminals, and operates largely immune from effective surveillance.

The Russian-born tech entrepreneur, who holds Russian, French, and Emirati citizenship, was arrested on August 24, 2024, immediately after landing his private jet near Paris. French authorities charged Durov with several offenses, including complicity in the distribution of child pornography on his messaging network. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years imprisonment. Despite ongoing investigations, Durov returned to Dubai in March, where he has lived in exile since 2014.

Durov’s career embodies the archetype of a tech oligarch who champions freedom while his platform enables harmful activities. At just 22, he founded VKontakte (VK), Russia’s equivalent of Facebook. By 30, he had fallen from Putin’s favor and was forced to sell his shares under pressure from Russian security services. Rather than retiring on his fortune, Durov launched Telegram, which now claims one billion monthly active users.

“When I turned 11 in 1995, I made a promise to myself to become smarter, stronger, and freer every day. Today, Telegram turns 11 and is ready to make that same promise,” Durov posted shortly before his Paris arrest – rhetoric that contrasts sharply with the platform’s real-world impact.

The lack of effective content moderation has made Telegram a fertile ground for cybercriminal activity. In 2024, Spain’s Civil Guard dismantled a banking phishing network that openly used Telegram channels with titles as brazen as “Stealing everything from grandmas.” The platform has also been rife with child pornography, though Durov’s arrest appears to have prompted increased cooperation with authorities, including Spanish police who have since dismantled several pedophile networks.

Telegram’s features make it particularly attractive to criminal elements. Its automated bots allow cybercriminals to manage customer inquiries and sell illegal services without human intervention. The platform facilitates cryptocurrency payments and distribution of stolen data, from bank cards to corporate documents, while its unlimited storage capacity makes sharing large databases of stolen information simple.

However, a recent report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky suggests criminals are beginning to abandon Telegram. After tracking 800 criminal channels blocked between 2021 and 2024, analysts concluded that despite longer survival times for some channels, Telegram’s tightening policies have significantly accelerated closure rates.

“Telegram remains a useful tool for scammers, but the risk-reward ratio is changing,” explains Vladislav Belousov from Kaspersky’s Digital Footprint team. “Although some channels are staying online longer than before, the increasing volume of blocks makes it impossible to guarantee stability.”

The platform presents other disadvantages for cybercriminals, including the lack of default end-to-end encryption found in competing services like WhatsApp and Signal. Established cybercrime groups, such as BFRepo with nearly 9,000 members, have begun shifting to other platforms or developing their own private messaging systems.

Beyond cybercrime, Telegram has become a hotbed for disinformation. Its combination of minimal content moderation and the ability to reach tens of thousands of users makes it ideal for spreading unverified material. Following a recent fatal train accident in Adamuz, Spain, the platform was flooded with conspiracy theories. Last summer, far-right groups used Telegram to organize anti-immigrant violence in Torre Pacheco, Murcia, where messages calling for the “cleansing of Spain” mobilized dozens of young people.

As Spanish authorities contemplate new regulations, the challenge remains balancing legitimate concerns about platforms like Telegram against potential overreach that could affect digital freedoms more broadly.